Cottonwood Recreation Center

Feasibility Study + Design

The Northern Arizona city of Cottonwood is located approximately 140 miles north of Phoenix, with a population of 10,500 residents and a service area of 34,000. In 2004, Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture completed a feasibility study regarding a community recreation center. Subsequently, residents approved a vote to reapply an existing tax to build the center, and in 2007 we were commissioned to begin design.

The 53,000-s.f. center includes indoor leisure aquatics, athletic-fitness and health facilities as well as an office complex for staff. An existing eight-lane outdoor lap pool was also renovated under the contract. The center’s high-performance building employs skylights, automatic lighting controls and extra insulation, and a regenerative media filter in the pool saves water and energy in addition to using less chemicals than traditional sand filters.

The recreation center is situated in a park setting close to the city center and across from the library, near the senior center and hospital. The building is organized by a two-story daylit central spine, which links the active and passive functions of the facility. The Cottonwood Recreation Center was modeled after the city’s old train station—now home to the senior center.

The folks in Cottonwood and nearby areas are excited about their new center, where they can hang out, work out and make friends.